Maxtor's drive turns in a WinBench 99access time of 14.7 milliseconds. Subtracting 5.6 milliseconds to account for the average rotational latency experienced by a 5400 RPM drive yields a measured seek time of 9.1 milliseconds... well under spec and a pleasant surprise indeed! This score places the 536DX among the fastest of 5400 RPM drives with only Samsung's SpinPoint V30 turning in a lower score.

For a drive that packs 33 gigs on a platter, the 536DX's outer-zonesequential transfer rate of 31.4 MB/sec is a bit on the low side. Inner zone rates come in at about 19 MB/sec.